How She Felt
by Pelahnar
Summary: This is pretty much the entire movie told from Nini's point of view. It's also a prequel to If Only You Knew, but I don't think it matters what order you read them in. Terrible summary, but please read anyway?
1. Jealous

**How She Felt**

**Disclaimer: Someday I might write a book that I can actually say I own, but this isn't a book is it? Since I doubt I'll make any movies, it's a pretty safe guess that I'll never own one - especially this one, which was made when I was in elementary school. Because, yeah, I was a genius at that age and could make a movie - totally. Um...no**

**Warning: Other stories that I've written are rated T 'to be safe'. They probably don't actually deserve the rating, but this one does. It's nothing really serious, but there are some mentions of alcohol and smoking and a few sexual references. Oh, and in case you didn't know, the whole story is set in a brothel, so all the female characters are prostitutes. Yeah -if you didn't know that, go watch the movie again - or for the first time more likely.**

**Singing lines taken directly from the movie are in bold. **

**Chapter 1: Jealous**

"Don't mess this up Sparkles – it's the biggest night of my career and if you ruin it, I swear I'll kill you!" Nini told 'the Sparkling Diamond' as they dressed for the upcoming dances.

Sparkles – a.k.a. Satine – paused in applying her make-up. "The biggest night of _your_ career, Nini? I thought it was my career on the line tonight!" She gave her that famous, dazzling smile that had long since ceased to dazzle her.

Before Nini could reply, she heard Harold's voice floating in, "**The Moulin Rouge!**"

"Come _on_, Nini!" cried Mome Fromage. "We're gonna be late!"

Nini followed the rest of the Diamond Dogs – minus Sparkles, of course, she didn't come in for another two dances – plastering a huge, suggestive smile on her face and gathering up her skirts, while answering Sparkles' question silently. _If you can't make it – how d'you think _I'll _ever be able to?_

Soon the dance became wilder, and for the next fifteen minutes, she had no time to think of anything besides the steps. She twirled and swished and marched her way across the floor, dancing with whomever came her way. _Concentration. That's all it takes. So much concentration that it looks effortless. _

That was what her mother, Desiree Rousseau, had told her, and that was how she lived her life. That was why she was the second-best performer here – why she wasn't the best, well, just ask Mam'selle Self-righteous Demon – whoops, Sparkling Diamond, Satine.

Almost before Nini realized it, the lights dimmed and the music faded away, leaving only the echoes of Harold's last words, "**Can-can-can-can**!" Their sign to clear the stage. As Nini took up her place in the middle of Arabia, Mome Fromage, and China Doll – elevated above the rest, of course – she couldn't help shooting Sparkles a spiteful glare and hoping she fell off the trapeze. Alas, her hopes were disappointed – on the trapeze Sparkles stayed.

Nini allowed her concentration to be broken – while still adding in her lines to the song – and searched the crowd for the man, the Duke that Sparkles was supposed to be catching tonight. There was Harold, talking to the kind of man that girls in their profession hoped never to have. Ugly and creepy, probably possessive. Their only redeeming feature was being filthy rich – which was more than enough to make up for everything else, but still. That kind was no fun to be with. Poor Sparkles. If that was the Duke, Nini almost felt sorry for her. Almost.

Her eyes drifted to the young man – boy, really – sitting at the next table. He was cute, if young and innocent looking. She doubted he'd ever been to the Moulin Rouge before – or even anywhere like it. But he was staring at Sparkles as though she were a goddess. Well, he wasn't the only one. Even among the Diamond Dogs, Nini was the only one able to see Sparkles for what she really was.

Sparkles and Harold disappeared beneath a wall of skirts to give Sparkles some time to change. At last, the attention wasn't focused _just_ on her. "Ole!" Nini cried, stretching her arms to toward the ceiling, and whipped her skirt around a few extra times in case anyone was watching. Yes, she managed to catch some eyes – then Sparkles reappeared and Nini was forgotten once more.

"**'Cause that's when those louses go back to their spouses**!" Nini watched, absent-mindedly dancing and singing along, as Sparkles was born up by some dandified stage-hands and taken in the direction she was pointing – toward the Duke. "**Diamonds . . . are a . . . girl's . . . best . . . friend!**"

Nini's eyes widened in surprise – Sparkles had landed, not in front of the Duke at all, but in front of the boy next to him! She waited for Sparkles to correct the mistake, but she didn't. Instead, she asked the boy to dance . . . and he _refused_! No one refused a dance with Sparkles. She kept insisting until he got up – or was pushed up by the other men at his table – and joined her on dance floor.

He couldn't possibly be the Duke Sparkles was supposed to be meeting! What did she think she was playing at?

So shocked was she at the turn of events, that Nini forgot to find a partner for the dance portion of Sparkles' number until she realized that Arabia, China Doll, and Mome Fromage were already gone. She immediately began dancing by herself on the platform, as though she was supposed to be there – that was something else her mother had told her, _If you make a mistake, make it deliberate._

"How can I be blamed for making a mistake when Sparkles is out there dancing with the wrong man?" Nini muttered out loud, not letting the smile leave her face even for an instant. She watched Sparkles and the boy spinning across the floor for the rest of the dance, wondering how Sparkles could've chosen him of all people for this all-important night.

_No, no._ She told herself quickly, as the badly paired couple parted and she made her way to the innermost circle below Sparkles, who was back on the trapeze. _Not for the night – just the dance. The Duke gets the night. He has to._

"**Diamonds! Diamonds! Square-cut or pear-shaped, these rocks won't lose their shape – Diamonds . . . are a girl's . . . best . . .**" Sparkles took a deep breath, preparing for the last word – but it never came.

Everyone – even Nini, who had hoped for this earlier in the evening – gasped as Sparkles' hands slipped off the ropes and she plummeted toward the stage. Chocolat caught her, and Harold was able to convince the crowd that it was all part of the show (Harold, too, was good at making mistakes look deliberate), but as Nini hurried backstage with the rest of the Diamond Dogs, she glanced back at the boy that Sparkles had danced with.

He hadn't been taken in by Harold's enthusiastic cheers – he looked as though his best friend had just fallen from that height, and he hadn't believed for a minute that it was on purpose.

"Idiot," Nini murmured at him, though she wasn't sure what about him was so idiotic – maybe it was just because he'd stolen the Duke's dance.

Nini and Mome Fromage watched as Chocolat carried Sparkles seemingly lifeless body (oh, if only!) to a comfortable place backstage. Nini grinned lopsidedly and said quietly, "Don't know if that Duke's gonna get 'is money's worth tonight!"

"Don't be unkind Nini!" Mome Fromage answered reprovingly – even now, after Sparkles' biggest mess-up of her life, the others were still fawning over her. One thing Nini knew for sure: if she fainted in the middle of a dance, the entire cast of the Moulin Rouge would not be following her backstage to make sure she was all right.

"All right you girls!" the stage manager rudely pushed past Nini and Mome Fromage. "Back out front and make those gents thirsty!" Nini gave Sparkles one last, disparaging glance before following the others. "Problems?" she heard him ask Marie as they left.

Oh yes, special Satine – even gets decent treatment from the awful stage manager.

Nini let a wave of jealousy carry her back into the dancehall, thinking, _If she doesn't get that Duke tonight – I really will kill her!_

**A/N: So I'm trying to stay as close to the storyline as possible, though as you'll see I will change up some things. Most of the places that Nini goes are either in the movie or undetermined - for example, I cannot find her in Diamonds dance anywhere. I can find Arabia and Mome Fromage and even a few glimpses of China Doll, but Nini is nowhere to be seen. Why? Because she was so shocked at seeing Christian with Satine of course!**

**Please review! **


	2. Excited

**Disclaimer: If you think I own this, your crazy. If you think I don't - congradulations! Ding ding! You win! Because I don't.**

**LadyDoroAnne has requested the honor of first reviewer - and since she requested it in a review, I must grant it. So, thanks to her! But don't worry, I am willing to give out second and third reviewer honors as well. In fact I have an unlimited amount of reviewer honors!**

**Chapter 2: Excited**

After the last dance – by this time it was nearly midnight – Nini went backstage to find Sparkles and demand to know what had gone on with that boy, but she wasn't there.

"She left," said Arabia. "About fifteen minutes ago – to meet her Duke?" What was she talking about? The Duke was still in the dancehall; Nini had seen him, less than five minutes ago. A cold feeling crept into her stomach as Arabia continued, giggling, "Didn't you think the Englishman China was dancing with during 'Diamonds' was handsome?" she asked. "I'm sooo jealous!"

China and Mome Fromage came up to add to Arabia's gossip. Normally Nini would've joined them, but tonight she didn't feel like it. That and there were only two gentlemen that she'd really looked at – the Duke, and the boy. "I'm gonna go get ready." She told the others – her own 'date' for the night wasn't due in her room for another half an hour and there wasn't that much to get ready, but none of them questioned her as she left.

On the way, Nini stopped to look up at Sparkles' Elephant – yes, Sparkles got an _Elephant_ to meet her men in, while the rest of them made due with cramped little rooms – and was surprised to see movement. Too much movement for only two people. Curiosity got the better of her, and Nini climbed up the tail of the Elephant to see what was going on, and whether it would ruin Sparkles' night and Nini's chances at a decent career.

She went down the steps to the Elephant's balcony quietly, but already she could tell that silence wasn't necessary, what with all the noise they were making. She gave a quick glance inside and her breath caught in her throat. No less than eight people were in the room, dancing wildly. Another glance told her that the people were those idiot Bohemians, Harold, Sparkles and both the Duke and the boy that Sparkles had danced with. And they were all singing about the play, Spectacular Spectacular.

As she watched, the boy told a story while Sparkles and Argie acted it out. Something about a courtesan falling in love with a pauper. Ridicules. Or so she thought – at the end of the song, the Duke said, "Generally I like it."

A cheer rose from the others in the room and Nini joined in – Sparkles' fatal mistake was not so fatal after all! She even entered the room to clap the Duke on the back with everyone else, hoping he didn't notice her. He didn't and soon Toulouse cried, "Party at my place! Come on!" Everyone but Sparkles left the Elephant, still laughing and cheering.

Harold and the Duke vanished to talk business and Toulouse ran around yelling about his spontaneous party, while everyone went up to join it. Nini laughed and downed a glass of Absinthe, immediately feeling much better. Nothing could go wrong now – the Duke was caught, and there was nothing anyone could do about it now.

"It's the end of the century!" Toulouse cried. "The Bohemian revolution is here!"

The excitement of the party rose and Nini, still laughing raucously, found herself on the floor with Chocolat on top of her. Beneath her, however, there was a hole in the floor – not surprising, considering the quality of these garrets – and through it she caught a glimpse of the room below.

"**How wonderful life is, now your in the world.**" It was barely audible above sound of the party, but Nini was almost positive she'd heard it. Pushing Chocolat away playfully, she scooted closer to the hole and peered through it. There he was, the boy that Sparkles had danced with. He hadn't joined in the celebration and was instead staring longingly out his window – at Sparkles' Elephant.

She laughed again, this time from the absurdity of the situation. Could he possibly think that Sparkles had meant anything by the dance? Surely he wasn't that naïve, however much he looked like it! She turned back to the party, forgetting all about him.

The celebration lasted nearly until morning – Nini had forgotten, too, about the man waiting for her, but what was that when there was such excitement that night! When it finally began to peter out, there was no point in going to bed, so, still dressed in party clothes, holding a cigar in her mouth and a bottle of Absinthe in one hand, Nini went instead to the Elephant.

"Sparkles!" she said in a singsong voice. "You here?"

Sparkles emerged from the shadows, smiling – not her fake, dazzle-smile, but something much more natural. "I'm here." She said quietly.

"What did you do?" cried Nini, slightly drunkenly. "You didn't sleep with the Duke, but he still agreed to pay – what happened?"

"I – made a mistake."

"With that boy? Of course, but how you could possibly have thought he was the Duke –"

"Not that." Her smile faded slightly, and she said with complete seriousness, "I'm in love, Nini. I fell in love."

"You mean lust, Sparkles. The word is lust."

"No . . . love." Her voice had taken on a strange, ethereal tone.

Nini's happiness drained away, and she thought about taking another drink of Absinthe, to try and bring it back. Instead she offered the bottle to Sparkles, hoping it would bring her to her senses. Sparkles took it almost mechanically and drank from it, but briefly. "There's no such thing as love, Sparkles – just lust, and the things you can get from it." Nini said patiently, as though explaining something to a small child. Well, Sparkles was acting like one, if she really thought she was in love.

Sparkles nodded slowly. "I can't stop thinking about him."

"You will – just make it through this show, and everything will be fine."

This time, she slowly shook her head. "I don't want to stop thinking about him."

**A/N: Just to be clear, I don't drink. Any description of what it's like to be drunk is entirely imagined. I have never tasted alcohol and I don't plan to. Ever. **

**Now that that's out of the way, what did you think? Please review!**


	3. Panicked

**Disclaimer: You _know_ what's supposed to go here, but I guess I'll put it anyway: I don't own the Moulin Rouge. Happy?**

**Chapter 3: Panicked**

Over the next few weeks, Nini learned quite a few disturbing things. They were disturbing enough that she decided to write them down:

_ 1) The boy Sparkles danced with is named Christian.  
__ 2) Christian is not some foreign royalty that only came for the night.  
__ 3) He is a 'penniless poet' (these are Sparkles' exact words – is there something special about being penniless? Other than that it should scare girls like us away?)  
__ 4) Audrey has mysterious disappeared.  
__ 5) Christian has taken Audrey's place as writer of Spectacular Spectacular. Coincidence? I think not.  
__ 6) Sparkles is not in love with the Duke.  
__ 7) Sparkles is in love with Christian.  
__ 8) Correction: Sparkles thinks she is in love with Christian.  
__ 9) Why couldn't she have these delusions about the Duke? – It would make everything much simpler.  
__10) Sparkles and Christian are being all too obvious about their affair.  
__11) Despite this, no one has actually noticed the affair.  
__12) The Duke is more possessive than I imagined.  
__13) He has all but bought the Moulin Rouge, and insists that Sparkles belongs to him alone.  
__14) This wouldn't be a problem, if not for Christian.  
__15) All our livelihoods now depend on Sparkles – why did she choose now to lose her head?_

Nini saw this list as fifteen reasons why she should be panicking.

But it could be all right. While Christian and Sparkles were being extremely obvious – and getting more obvious over time – the Duke had proved himself to be, not only ugly and possessive, but also exceptionally stupid. He noticed nothing. Which was disturbing in and of itself.

When Harold finally realized something was amiss, Nini was relieved. If anyone could put a stop to this nonsense, he could. And he did – Nini hid in the shadows and watched as Harold confronted her after spotting Sparkles and her poor lover making out in plain sight. "It's nothing," Sparkles said, shrugging her shoulders defensively. "It's . . . just an infatuation, it's – it's nothing."

"The infatuation will end." Nini had never heard that degree of anger in Harold's voice – it gave her a certain amount of satisfaction to see him direct it at Sparkles. She seemed more than upset at his tone – or perhaps his words – as he ordered her to break up with Christian. Nini doubted she'd been spoken to that way since she'd come to the Moulin Rouge – as far as she was concerned, Harold's first words of anger to her were long overdue.

As Harold left, Nini watched Sparkles turn and slowly walk away, looking as though she wasn't quite sure where she was. "**Why live life from dream to dream?**" she sang softly. "**And dread the day when dreaming . . .**" For the second time in as many months, Sparkles never finished the song. Her breath caught and she spent a few labored minutes trying to get it back.

Then she fell. Not off a trapeze this time, but neither was anyone there to catch her. She hit the ground hard. Nini quickly checked to make sure she was alive, then she stepped back. She would be found soon enough and Nini might never again by able to talk to Christian without the slightest chance of being interrupted by Sparkles. Why she wanted to talk to Christian uninterrupted, Nini wasn't sure, but she knew she had to do it.

"Christian?" Nini asked tentatively. She carefully tapped the door to his garret open. He turned around quickly and looked disappointed. He had obviously been expecting someone else – namely, Sparkles.

"Oh . . . uh –" she came in without invitation as he searched for her name. He'd been told it, of course, and she saw him everyday at rehearsals, but Nini doubted he saw her. In fact, she doubted he saw anything besides Sparkles. Poor guy, she felt sorry for him – or at least, she would once Sparkles got her priorities straight again.

"Nini," she supplied. "Nini Legs-in-the-Air."

"Yeah. Right."

Nini fought to keep from laughing. "Why are you here, Christian? What are you doing at the Moulin Rouge? Do you know?"

He looked confused, "I'm – writing this play –"

This time she did laugh, rather loudly, startling him into silence. "Writing the play . . . I suppose so. Writing it – stealing it – ruining it."

"Wh –?"

"Satine is the play, _Shakespeare_. And the play is the Moulin Rouge. Harold has put every cent he has into the production – all his own money, and as much of the Duke's as he can get. Without Satine, the play doesn't exist. Without the play, the Moulin Rouge doesn't exist. Without the Moulin Rouge – we're all on the street." Nini was trying to keep her voice as cold as possibly, but she knew it was trembling. She slowly crossed the room and he backed away. "Do you really want to be solely responsible for turning every girl in this establishment – including the precious Sparkling Diamond – into the street without a penny?" she whispered venomously. "Because that is what you're doing!"

His back was to the wall now, and she was pressed against him. She was close enough to kiss him if she leaned forward a few more inches, and were it anyone else she might've done it. But it was not anyone else – it was Christian, Sparkles' penniless poet, and she recoiled from the very thought of kissing him.

Nini sharply let out the breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. "Think about that." She began to leave, then turned back. "Oh, and think about this, too: once the play is done, and the Duke is gone, and you don't have to hide anymore – how long do you think Sparkles is going to stay? She likes the fun of keeping a secret now, but once she doesn't have to?" Nini shrugged. "She's a courtesan, Shakespeare. Remember that."

Her next stop was Sparkles' Elephant, where they had taken her. The doctor was talking quietly to Harold. "I don't think there's any actually wrong with her! People faint, especially women."

"It's the second time she's fainted in the past two months! What if it happens again, next time during a performance?" Harold asked, eyes wide.

"I can't rule out that possibility, not if you keep her in such tight corsets. If you want her to breathe, you're going to have to allow her some room to do it in." Nini snorted loudly and they both turned to her.

"Sparkles doesn't wear corsets bone-crushingly tight because Harold wants 'er to – she wears them that way because she wants to. She's not gonna loosen them just because you tell 'er to, either."

The doctor stared at her for a few seconds as though she were mad – but Nini wasn't the one who wore too-tight corsets, that was Sparkles! – then told Harold that she would be all right as long as she got enough sleep and loosened her corsets. He left, and Harold followed him, muttering about needing to tell the Duke.

"He's not gonna be happy." Nini told Sparkles' still unconscious form. "For that matter, neither is Shakespeare – but that's none 'o my business, is it?" She curled up in a chair and fell asleep waiting for Sparkles to wake up.

**I'm not sure how Nini (or I) decides when to drop h's and when not to, but I'm not sure how she's really supposed to talk. She's got, what, three lines in the whole movie? *sigh* I will try to keep it consistent, but since when has consistency been one of my strong points?**

**Please review!**


	4. Cold

**Disclaimer: I bought the rights to this film in the days since I last updated. Definitely. What? You don't think so? I am soooo offended! How dare you not think so! Oh, well, your right. Please disreguard (is that spelled right? Who cares?) the above sentence. I own nothing but Nini's feelings and those I can do anything I want with - laughs evilly, rubbing hands together excitedly.**

**Chapter 4: Cold**

"Nini," said Sparkles. Nini woke up and looked around – it was almost dawn. "What are you doing here?" Sparkles continued.

"Oh! Um . . . waiting for you to wake up." Nini said quickly. "I have to talk to you."

"It'll have to wait. Christian –" she began to get up.

"_Christian_ can wait – he's waited all night, he can wait a bit longer. Sparkles didn't seem to like this reasoning, but she sat back again. "I need to ask you something. You –" Nini gulped. "_love_ Christian?" Sparkles nodded emphatically, smiling. "Yes. But – if it came down to a choice between Christian and the Moulin . . . which would you chose?"

Her smile disappeared. She didn't answer right away, a good thing in Nini's mind. It meant she was considering the consequences. She closed her eyes. "I –" she started and stopped again. "It won't come to that . . ."

"But it might." Nini pushed forward unsympathetically. "You know that. It very well might, and soon. You have to make a decision Sparkles. _Now_."

"The – the Moulin, of course." She said, averting her eyes and not sounding nearly sure enough for Nini's liking. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I really should go back to Christian." This time Nini didn't stop her and she left the room. The door closed slightly harder than strictly necessary.

Nini sat down on bed heavily. It would never work, this relationship between Sparkles and Shakespeare. They had to know that. She wouldn't be surprised if they broke up after this – and if Nini had helped it along, well, so what? It had to happen and sooner was better than later, for all involved.

She got up again and went over to the balcony and looked up toward Shakespeare's garret. As she watched, Sparkles came out one of the windows. She seemed agitated. Had they argued? Perhaps the seed of doubt that Nini had planted in Shakespeare had grown through the night he spent alone? She hardly dared to hope.

A few seconds later, he appeared as well and began to plead with her. Nini saw Sparkles shake her head and turn away, but her resolve was visibly weakening. Over the next few minutes, she broke down entirely and Nini began to shake with an emotion she couldn't name as they kissed once more.

"This can't be happening." She muttered. She turned away and brushed tears away from her eyes. Where had they come from? She couldn't say, but as she walked back down to street level, Nini felt a strange, empty coldness take over her. "You're not getting away with this Sparkles – I'm going to make sure of that." She said out loud.

But as another two weeks disappeared, Nini was unable to go through with this resolution. Everything that was pulling them apart was only making them hold on tighter. Shakespeare wrote that song – Come What May – in obvious hopes that they end of the play would also be the end of their story. "Foolish boy," Nini muttered more than once as the opening night of Spectacular Spectacular sped closer. Opening night – it was the ultimate test of Sparkles' supposed love for Shakespeare. The night she was to fulfill her promise to the Duke.

"Nini?" Arabia asked just after she'd said this once.

"Hmm?" Nini pulled herself out of reverie.

"You do know you've been staring at Christian for the past five minutes?"

Had it really been that long? It seemed to her that she'd only glanced at him, murmured her exclamation and been interrupted. But she had found that her eyes had wandered to him more and more often since the day she'd visited him.

Slowly the rest of the girls realized what was going on. They, of course, found it extremely funny and thought nothing of the financial disaster it would soon create. Despite Nini's efforts to open his eyes, however, the Duke's obliviousness continued. She kept giving him ideas of things to do with Sparkles – picnics, boating trips – and coincidentally she would always mention something when Sparkles and Shakespeare were 'rehearsing'. But it was always ruined by the Duke's overwhelming stupidity.

At the final dress rehearsal, Nini's patience ran out. With one last glance at Shakespeare, the cold emptiness returned, along with a fierce determination. He would not be with Sparkles. She wouldn't let him.

Slowly, she approached the Duke. "This ending's silly." She said, speaking rather loudly and enunciating very clearly. You never knew what might go over his head. "Why would the courtesan go for the penniless writer? Whoops!" she gasped theatrically as the Duke turned toward her, startled. "I mean _sitar player_." She gave him a lopsided grin and looked pointedly at Shakespeare, then Sparkles. He followed her gaze and, as she backed away still grinning, she could only hope he finally saw the truth.

He did. She could see the anger grow in them – even from the back – through the end of the song. She sat down, laughing with the other Diamond Dogs, and waited for the fireworks. She was not disappointed. "I don't like this ending." He said as the note faded.

The mood on stage changed. The triumph and excitement vanished, to be replaced with a tense confusion. "Don't like the ending, my dear Duke?" Harold asked, horrified.

"Why would the courtesan chose a penniless – sitar player –" Didn't the man have any imagination? He was basically quoting her. "Over the maharaja? Who is offering a life time of security – _that's_ real love." Nini nearly laughed. Maybe he shouldn't use what little imagination he had – he was going to hurt himself, thinking these deep thoughts. _He's doing what you want him to – don't complain_. She told herself firmly.

Toulouse was also spouting nonsense – he normal rubbish about the Bohemian ideals, but the Duke wasn't any more interested in it than Nini. "I don't care about your ridicules dogma!" he shouted. "Why shouldn't the courtesan choose the maharaja?"

"Because she doesn't love you!"

Everyone went silent at Shakespeare's pronouncement. "_Idiot_!" Nini breathed. He seemed to realize his mistake also and immediately tried to correct it.

"H-him. H-him. She – she doesn't love, she doesn't love him." He stammered, but the damaged was complete.

"Oh, I see." The Duke whispered. He turned back toward the stage. "Monsieur Zidler! This ending will be rewritten . . . with the courtesan choosing the maharaja – and without the lovers' 'secret song'. It will be rehearsed in the morning, ready for the opening tomorrow night."

Harold began to protest this but Sparkles took control. Knowing Sparkles, she had been thinking of a cover since the Duke's first proclamation and now she was ready to give it. "Harold!" she laughed. "The poor Duke is being treated _appallingly_." Her disapproving look took in everyone, even Shakespeare. She started down the steps, toward the Duke. "Now why don't you and I have a little supper. And then afterward . . . we can let Monsieur Zidler know how we would prefer the story to end. Hmm?"

_Good girl_. Nini thought. It seemed like Sparkles was going to go through with her promise of choosing the Moulin Rouge over Christian after all. She closed her eyes in relief. When she opened them again, the Duke had gone off somewhere and Sparkles was headed backstage. Nini glanced at Shakespeare, who looked like he wanted to follow her. Before he did, he glanced over at Nini, eyes full of pain. Unconsciously, she lifted her head in defiance, as though he were accusing her.

He looked away almost immediately and left after Sparkles, but Nini couldn't seem to get his hurt expression out of her head.

**Nini really is full of herself, isn't she? In this chapter alone she, what?, calls the Duke stupid several times, says Christian is foolish _and_ an idiot, thinks Toulouse's ideals are nonsense - I think the only person (other than herself) that she approves of in this chapter is Satine! How did _that_ work out? At least she does have something of a conscience . . . maybe.**

**"Love is like oxygen." Oxygen is necessary to breathe. Love is needed to hold this story together. **

**Let's put it this way: Reviews are like oxygen _and_ love! Please give me both! (Seriously, for writing the Tango chapter, I'll need them. Lots of them.)**


	5. Passion

**Disclaimer: I'm not really the sort of person who'd want to own this sort of dance - not exactly _clean_ is it? No, I definitely do not own El Tango de Roxanne . . . I am thinking about writing another story about it though - it's mentioned in passing in this chapter - about who Roxanne was and why the Argentinean sings so passionately about her . . . **

**Note: If you didn't notice, Nini has the tendency to give people nicknames - Satine has always been Sparkles, Christian turned into and will remain Shakespeare - so 'The Argentinean' (conscious or unconscious, narcoleptic or not) is much too long and just doesn't sound right in conversation, besides being impossible to spell consistantly. Seriously, would you like to have someone call you your nationality? Really? No. So Nini, being Nini, shorts it to Argie. **

**Chapter 5: Passion**

"Why'd you tell him, Nini?" asked Mome Fromage after a few minutes of silence. Nini looked up, confused. "I mean, I don't approve of Satine's affair either, but what good did telling the Duke do? Now we have to learn a whole new scene in one morning – you might be able to memorize steps after trying them once, but the rest of us –"

"Don't you get it?" Nini snapped, cutting her off. "If Sparkles gets too attached to this boy – and can't go through with her promise to the Duke tomorrow night . . ."

"Attached? What are you talking about – she's just toying with him. She doesn't really care." Mome scoffed.

Nini sighed. "I'd agree with you, except – he doesn't pay her."

Mome Fromage – along with Arabia and China Doll, who were listening – gasped. "She's played with men before – we all have. They pay us to do it. Always, you know that. But Christian hasn't given her a cent. Which isn't surprising considering he does have one to give her. But he thinks it's real, that he's actually in love with her. And worse, so does she."

The four Diamond Dogs fell silent as the seriousness of Nini's statement finally got through to the others. "Whatcha gonna do about it?" asked China after a minute.

"Well, I've already done something, I've shown Sparkles what will happen if she doesn't do what she's supposed to," she gave them her one-sided grin. "But I don't think Shakespeare quite understands yet. So – I'm gonna dance the Tango for him tonight."

They all burst into giggles – the Tango was a dance Argie had learned in Argentina. He taught it to all the girls at the Moulin, dedicating it a young whore there named Roxanne who'd found it particularly fun to convince men that she loved them. Then one particularly hot-headed lover got angry when he realized she was cheating on him and broke her neck. As a tribute to her, the Tango always ended with a fake rendition of this – Nini prided herself on having one time completely convinced Arabia that Argie had actually killed her. Who was Roxanne's killer? He wouldn't say, but Nini suspected Argie himself.

It was not the sort of dance that a man in love with a courtesan would enjoy watching, but – he had to understand what he was getting into.

Nini went to talk to the Argentinean about dancing that evening, then returned to the others to get ready for it.

_Then again_, Nini thought as she pulled of the cumbersome red skirt that she'd worn to talk to the Duke. _If Shakespeare killed Sparkles it would solve a lot of my problems_. She sighed, knowing but not wanting to admit that she depended on Sparkles as much as anyone else at the Moulin and tied her shawl so that it would be out of the way, falling as a half-skirt to retain some modesty, if not much. She noticed some of the other girls losing clothes too. No one here cared what they wore and it was much to hot for anything extra.

Silence fell over the hall as Shakespeare reappeared from backstage and Nini settled down next to Arabia to watch him. She wasn't sure why she found watching him so fascinating, but she did. He looked strangely calm considering his lover was going to 'have dinner' with someone else. What had she said to him? Promises of undying love, perhaps? Nini wouldn't put it past her.

Finally, she could stand it no longer. Quietly, she stood up and crossed the room toward him. "Don't worry Shakespeare!" She crooned, sitting in his lap. He jumped and leaned away. "You'll get your ending!" She continued. "Once the Duke gets his . . . end . . . in."

Suddenly she found herself being flung across the floor. Argie caught her and she turned back as Shakespeare's assault continued "Don't touch me!" she yelled – to whom, she wasn't sure since she was fighting both Shakespeare and Argie. The Argentinean pulled her away and she calmed down somewhat. "Keep your hands off me!" she spat at Christian angrily. She took several deep breaths as Argie soothed her gently and barely listened as he began berating Shakespeare about falling in love with 'a woman who sells herself.'

While Nini certainly hadn't expected Shakespeare to take her clever pun well, neither had she expected him to react so violently. He just didn't seem like that type.

"Of a prostitute!" Argie announced. Suddenly a spotlight hit her in the face, pulling her out of reverie. Was it time for the Tango already? Nini raised her eyebrows, faking disbelief at the title of prostitute. She questioningly indicted herself, then walked down the steps toward Argie, laughing raucously at the stagehands' catcalls and wolf whistles.

She walked closer, forcing herself not to look at Shakespeare's reaction. "And a man!" Argie continued. "Who falls in love . . ." Nini spun slowly, and ran her hands over her own body suggestively. " . . . With her." He finished in a whisper, staring at her intently.

The music began and Nini lost herself in the dance. "Desire . . . Passion . . . Suspicion . . . Jealousy . . . Anger . . ." The mood of their Tango changed with each word Argie spoke. She forgot about Shakespeare, forgot that she was dancing to prove a point. This was what she lived for. It had been much too long since her last dance with Argie and she really felt each change as it came, letting her sincerity show through without discretion.

Argie, too, seemed more sincere this time and she knew they'd never Tangoed together so well. The twirled and spun, making up the dance as they went. It didn't matter, after all, what the steps were as long as they matched the current tone. Finally, Argie yelled, "Without trust there is no love! Jealousy," He let go of her wrist with a jerk, pushing her several steps backwards. "Yes, jealousy, will drive you MAD!" Nini stumbled into another man, holding her wrist. That part was supposed to hurt, but did he really have to –

There was no time for that. She raised her arms, readying herself for the second –much more fun – part of the Tango. Roxanne's affairs.** "ROXANNE!"**

She danced with the first man for a few seconds before she felt someone else behind her and she obediently went to him instead. "**Walk the streets for money!**" Argie sang and Nini went from one partner to the next, danced seductively with each one, then left them all disappointed.

"**You don't have to sell your body to the night!**" Nini's current partner lifted her into the air and they held the position for a long second, exhilaration coursing through her. As he slowly let her down in front of Argie, Nini heard something she hadn't expected. Shakespeare was singing.

He'd sung before of course – more than once, he'd taken over as the sitar player when narcolepsy overcame Argie. Nini realized his song was of the very jealousy that Argie had been singing of only minutes before – the kind that could drive someone mad.

**A/N: So, Roxanne was not nearly as difficult to write as I suspected - the fact that I had large amounts of homework and needed a reason to put it off helped inspire me as well. The whole thing is written, but I wanted to keep the chapter lengths consistent, so I broke it in two. Right now, I think there will be eight or nine chapters total, unless some random scene appears between now and the end (I doubt it) to add in another. **

**Sorry about the random paragraph in which Nini changes clothes - in watching Roxanne's Tango again I realized what she'd done with the shawl in the scene before and I was so proud of myself that I couldn't resist mentioning it. Has anyone else noticed that in one scene (in the movie) Nini is talking to the Duke and going back to sit with the others, and then when Come What May ends not only are they all gone, but so are the chairs they were sitting in? I don't think there's any evidence that they were on stage either - and by rights they should've been there the entire time anyway (they _are_ in the final scene, after all - why weren't they part of the dress rehearsal?) I didn't know what to do about this in my story, so I just ignored it - but for once, the inconsistancy is not my fault!**


	6. Nervous

**Disclaimer: Don't own. Never have. Never will. Stop asking.**

**Sooo...my computer has something seriously wrong with it. In the past few months, it has gone from about 20 GB to (the last time I checked) 10.2 MB. Yes, I have put things on it, but not almost 20 GB! Worse, about half an hour ago, I checked and there was about 50 MB - yesterday afternoon there was over 700 MB and the day before that over 1 GB. Now tell me there's not a problem here!**

**To summarize the paragraph with all the numbers, my computer is losing hard drive space much too rapidly. I don't know what the result of this is and I'm worried I might lose everything, or something, so I'm posting now. Yes, you can blame (or praise) my computer problems fro the quick update.**

**Hee hee - I forgot how much I loved Christian's part of this song, so instead of putting in random lines just to let you know where I am in the scene, I'm pretty such I typed up all the words that Nini would've heard. Unintentionally. I couldn't help it, his voice is so beautiful in this song... *goes dreamy eyed* *shakes self quickly* Whoa, what just happened to me? Never mind. Enjoy! *forces quick smile and ducks away, embarrassed* **

Chapter 6: Nervous

"**His eyes . . . upon your face.**" Nini tried to ignore him and go back to her own dance. She reached out toward Argie.** "His hand . . . upon your hand.**" Shakespeare continued, voice shaking. Nini backed away.** "His lips . . . caress your skin."** Argie also turned from her, his expression of unfathomable pain. She couldn't understand it – it was just a dance, right? "**It's more than I can stand!"**

Foolish boy, Nini thought sadly, without her normal accompanying scoff. She told herself that was because of the dance – how could she scoff in the middle of a dance?

As Nini and Argie left the dance floor in opposite directions, nearly everyone else in the hall paired up and walked onto it. It was part three of Roxanne's Tango, when instead of two people improvised, a much larger number had to dance very strictly learned steps. Nini never stayed for that part, because the more carefully choreographed a dance was the more boring, as far as she was concerned.

Instead, she danced with the fence that separated the dance floor from the rest of the hall. "**Why does my heart cry?" **Shakespeare sang. "**Feelings I can't fight!" **Nini pretended to look at Argie – still singing about Roxanne pitifully – while actually watching Shakespeare slowly make his way through the dancers. "**You're free to leave me, but just don't deceive me, and please, believe me when I say: I love you!"**

Nini marveled inwardly at his ability to work with words as he left the building completely. She sat down during an interlude in the middle of Roxanne: Part Three, but not for very long. Argie started singing again and Nini watched as the dance began once more, much wilder than before.

Almost before she knew it, the violin began screeching the fast notes that were supposed to begin Part Four. Nini smiled and stood up. Shakespeare wasn't here anymore, sadly, but that didn't mean they couldn't finish the dance. She started back towards the dance floor, grinning at Argie and dancing seductively by herself once more. She reached the floor and danced into the midst of the other dancers. She couldn't quite comprehend why seeing all the men throw aside their partners as they saw her gave her such great pleasure, but it did.

She held her arms in the air and stepped carefully through the stagehands who were all trying to get to her once more. They formed into a circle around her as the Diamond Dogs they'd been dancing with crawled away dejectedly and almost fearfully. Nini laughed and threw her head back, spinning wildly in the center of their circle.

She fell – as if by accident – into the arms of one of the men. She found herself completely out of control, being pushed from one partner and pulled to the next violently. Finally she reached Argie and out of a relief that wasn't entirely acted, she threw her arms around him. She knew what was coming next, but for just a few seconds she forgot and felt just as the real Roxanne must've as Argie turned her around and she felt his arm across her throat.

For a fraction of a second, she knew her life was entirely in his hands. It was just a dance, but he could kill he just as easily in a dance as anywhere else – and he had been more sincere this time. Then the pressure was released and he let her go. Nini fell into the center of the circle, lying there as though dead just like she was supposed to at the end of the song.

Silence.

Nini let the silence stretch for a full minute before opening her eyes. She heard an audible sigh of relief from the stagehands as she stood up and she grinned at them all, shaking her head and rejoining Arabia, China, and Mome.

"Good show, Nini." China said. "Your best yet I'd say." The others laughed in agreement.

"Mm-hmm," Nini said and grinned again. "Did you see their faces – they thought he actually killed me!" They laughed once more. "Wish Shakespeare'd stayed to watch the ending though. That's the best part and he missed it."

"Somehow I don't think he's all that sorry!" Arabia giggled.

Nini smiled but was interrupted by Argie who sat down next to her. "Hey, Nini . . ."

She groaned, knowing why he was there. "Not tonight, Argie." He started to protest but she pressed a finger to his lips. "Not tonight. Oh please, I'm really tired." She begged. He stood up and walked away, clearly disappointed. She turned back to the others, and was surprised to see them staring at her with identical looks of astonishment. "What?" Wasn't she allowed to refuse the Argentinean if she wanted to? Then again, had she ever? Now that she thought about it – no, she hadn't. "I'm tired." She repeated, but they looked skeptical.

"You've never been tired after dancing Roxanne before. You say it just gives you energy." Mome pointed out truthfully.

"Yeah, well, I'm tired tonight!" she cried exasperatedly. "And to prove it, I'm going to bed." She glanced at a nearby stagehand that'd been watching her hopefully since she'd brushed off Argie. "Alone." She added to him.

As Nini went back to her room, she kept hearing Shakespeare's voice, echoing eerily in her head. _Your free to leave me, but just don't decieve me..._ She wondered why he would say something like that. And if it were true. If Satine actually did break up with him, would he really just _let_ her? _...and please, believe me when I say: I love you_! She sighed, unable to fathom Shakespeare's song.

Nini's steps slowed as she passed Harold's office. She thought sh could hear faint voices coming from within. Nini had never been brought up to mind her own business (no, really?), so she pressed an ear to the door and listened intently. After a few seconds she was able to make out some words and what she heard filled her with an indescribable dread.

_"...It's the boy...bewitched her...want her back...the show will end my way...she will come to me...I'll have the boy killed..."_

Nini gasped and stumbled away from the door. A few minutes later, she found herself back in her room without quite knowing how she'd gotten there. She sank onto the bed, breathing heavily and wondering why those words had affected her like this. And what had provoked the Duke to say them.

Obviously something had gone wrong. Sparkles had given herself away or not shown up at all. Whatever had happened, it had made the Duke angrier than ever. Angry enough to kill Shakespeare.

_Oh god...he's going to kill Christian_... She thought, suddenly feeling panicked and jumped to her feet. For the next hour or so, she was unable to think about anything else. She couldn't keep still either, feet pacing nervously around the room and she couldn't seem to figure out what to do with her hands - they would move of their own accord from holding her head to her waist to wringing themselves in front of her without pause. _...kill Christian..._

Finally, she gave into extreme exhaustion and reluctantly went to bed.

**Who knows when the next update will be - computer problems mixed with the fact that I'm not sure how to start the next chapter - but never fear: If my teachers keep giving me homework like they have been, I will not lack for inspiration.**

**Please review! Did I forget to put that on the last chapter? Oh well, if I ever do it again, please do review anyway because I love reviews and reviewers are my best friends (on Fanfiction) - My best friend for this story is LadyDoroAnne because she's reviewed every chapter. Have I mentioned that her Lord of the Rings fanfics are absolutely awesome? I haven't? Well, they are. You should go read them. _After_ you press the little review button and tell me what you think of this chapter.**


	7. Sometimes Sympathetic

**Disclaimer: Don't own. Don't care. Dislike this de ja vu.**

**It's shorter than normal, but I like how it ends, so, I stopped there. Sorry Toulouse's accent - or dialect, or whatever he has - his way of speaking isn't done very well, but he only has, like, three sentences, so hopefully it won't matter too much. Enjoy! **

**Chapter 7: Sympathy (sometimes)**

Nini wasn't sure what she planned on doing, as she mounted the steps to Shakespeare's garret once more the next morning. As she arrived on the landing, the door opened and Toulouse came out, looking worried. "I wouldn't go in there." He warned her.

"Why not?"

"He – he's not –" Toulouse stammered and glanced back at the door. "Satine bwoke up with him last night." Nini stared at him, mouth open.

"Really?" she asked faintly. Toulouse nodded and headed up the stairs to his own room.

"I can't think why though – she woves him, doesn't she?" he said as he left.

Nini deliberated, hand on the doorknob. Sparkles knew, then, of the Duke's plan – she had to. She hadn't been sensible enough to see this coming, otherwise she wouldn't have waited so long. So, she had to know. After another moment's hesitation, Nini pushed open the door and entered.

Shakespeare was sitting on the bed, staring blindly into space. He didn't seem to realize she was there, but he didn't jump when she spoke either. "Don't say I didn't warn you."

"What?"

"You know, for all your brilliant ways with words, you're sure not very good at comprehending anyone else's." Nini laughed humorlessly. She sat down on the bed as he watched her closely. "What'd she say?"

"I don't want to talk about her." He said shortly.

"No? Too bad, because I do." Shakespeare made to get up, but Nini caught his arm. "Look, you've got to understand – she doesn't care about you. I bet she didn't say it like that, she's much too nice for her own good sometimes. But that's what she meant, and the sooner you accept that the better. She doesn't love you!"

Shakespeare wrenched his arm out of her grip. "Your worse than Toulouse." He said forcefully, standing up.

"Why?" Nini asked with equal force, and stood up too. "Because I tell you the truth and he just says what you want to hear?"

"I DON'T want to hear it!" Shakespeare shouted. "Not from Toulouse, not from you, and not from Sa – from Sati –" He broke off, unable to finish Sparkles' name. He sank back onto the bed, head in his heads.

Nini stared at him in silence for a few minutes. Did he really believe that they were in love? Yes, he did. She felt inexplicably sorry for him but she knew there was no time for sympathy. "Go away, Shakespeare. Just go away, please. Forget her. Forget about all of us. Forget the Moulin Rouge. Go." She paused, then added under her breath, "We'd be better off without you anyway."

She left, wondering why the last sentence rang so true, when she knew it wasn't. Opening night of Spectacular Spectacular had sold out – something that surely wouldn't have happened if Audrey had stayed.

Shakespeare was, at least in some ways, the best thing that had ever happened to the Moulin. His story, however unrealistic, was amazing and Sparkles had never sung as well as she did after he had come. By the same token, he distracted her from the financial needs of the play and he would – if he stayed – lead not only to their ruin, but his own death. He had to go.

"Come on, Nini" Nini was startled out of her thoughts by Mome Fromage who grabbed her hand and pulled her into the dance hall – the auditorium now – saying, "We're late, hurry up!"

Nini let herself be dragged without protest. Sparkles was on stage, practicing the new final song, which was a version of her Sparkling Diamonds number, "**Kiss . . . Hand . . . Diamonds . . . Best friend.**" Nini examined her closely – her eyes were dry, and rather than looking broken-hearted, she simply seemed completely emotionless. She stared at the back wall dully and danced without taking her eye off it the entire time.

"Here, memorize this now." The stage manager shoved some music into Nini's hands and hurried away. She read through it quickly, mouthing the words and hearing the notes in her head. They rehearsed the new final scene – which ended with the Courtesan exchanging wedding vows with the Maharaja, of course – for the rest of the morning and into the afternoon. Harold declared with no small amount of bitterness in his voice, that the scene was as learned as it was going to be at such short notice a few hours before the show was supposed to start.

Nini wished he hadn't – she would've gladly kept rehearsing right up until people started arriving, if only so Sparkles would not have time to think about what she was doing in between. She'd vanished shortly after Harold's declaration, so Nini searched and quickly found her in the new dressing room the Duke had given her. She was crying, as Nini had suspected she would be.

"I can't do this, Nini." She sobbed quietly as Nini entered.

"You already have." Nini said told her. "You can't go back now, so go forward." She steeled herself to put a hand on Sparkles shoulder – her sympathy for Shakespeare did not extend to Sparkles and it never would. "Think about it. You'll be a real actress, you'll – have everything you've ever wanted . . ."

Sparkles pulled away and crossed her arms. "That's what I told Christian." She interrupted coldly. "But it's not true – I don't want that anymore, I want him!"

""Well, you can't have him." Nini's voice was cold too. "It's done, Sparkles, he's gone. So forget him and go back to your old dreams. They're more attainable." Nini started to leave but stopped in the doorway. "Don't mess this up Sparkles. Please don't mess this up."

Surprisingly, Sparkles let out a small laugh. "Last time, you were going to kill me if I did."

Nini returned the smile, "Yeah, well, I'm still not above murder. Believe me."

**There, you who have read If Only You Knew, don't you like the ending? I do. Hopefully it makes up for the shortness and almost completely conversation-driven-ness of the chapter. Partly, anyway. The rest, I hope, is made up by the quick update. :)**

**Review, yes? Please. (Please, please, please, please, please, please, please). I'm not desperate for reviews at all. No. Not at all.**


	8. Hatred

**Disclaimer: Still don't own. Still don't care. Still don't like feeling of deja vu.**

**I like this chapter - the last chapter in this story. In it, I was able to leave the storyline completely and that was extremely fun. It's longer than normal, but oh well. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 8: Hatred**

Nini found, during the performance that night, that her ever carefully focused concentration was breaking – she kept staring out the back window at their huge red windmill, wondering whether Shakespeare had taken her advice and left. More than once, she nearly missed a cue because of this.

Sparkles, too, seemed distracted. She had dried her eyes since Nini had last seen her, but replaced the tears with an intense, even scary, glare that she fixed everyone with. It was hard to believe she was in love – with either the sitar player or the Maharajah. Just as well, she supposed – the audience would be less disappointed when she chose money over love at the end.

Nini also watched the Duke, sitting smugly in the front row, staring at Sparkles as though she were a piece of meat to be devoured. Through the play, Nini began to realize that she hated the Duke. She hated him more than she'd ever hated anyone, ever before. And considering how many people she'd hated . . . that was saying something.

The final scene, the one that had replaced Come What May, began. Nini wondered who'd written it, silently berating them for the terrible scene. Toulouse was chanting "I only speak the truth!" over and over, the colors were garish, the steps insultingly simplistic. Maybe the Duke choreographed it.

"**Chhamma Chhamma! Re Chhamma Chhamma!**" she sang, grateful to the terrible writer for one thing – for the first time in her life, Nini was allowed to let her voice be heard over everyone else's. This was, she knew, only because Harold had finally realized that apart from Sparkles, she was the only Diamond Dog able to memorize music after only rehearsing it a few times. Still, it meant she had the limelight at last, if only for a short time.

Nini was beginning to think nothing would go wrong – that they would finish the play without a hitch. Sparkles' last solo, if still pretty intense, was soon over and all that was left was the wedding.

"I raise high my ceremonial wedding sword . . ." Nini thought Harold was going a bit overboard, but the audience seemed to disagree – they hung on his every word and laughed or gasped exactly when he wanted them to. "Jealousy has driven the sitar player into hiding!" Why would jealousy drive someone into hiding? Nini wondered. "Let the palace doors be opened!" Everyone looked at the doors, but they remained closed. "Open the doors! Open the doors!"

The doors were opened. Immediately, Nini wished they'd close again. The scene in front of her was strangely picturesque – Shakespeare and Sparkles were perfectly framed in the doorway, Sparkles on her knees, apparently trying to refuse money from Shakespeare. They couldn't have shocked the crowd – not to mention the cast – more thoroughly if they'd planned it.

Harold, with all his normal pompousness, quickly retrieved control of the situation and tried to convince the audience that Shakespeare really was the sitar player. Shakespeare played his part of jealous ex-lover all too well. He dropped Sparkles wrist and she fell to the floor, gasping for breath and tears streaming down her cheeks. "This woman is yours now." He threw the money he'd been trying to give her to the floor. "I've paid my whore!" He told the crowd contemptuously. "I owe you nothing. And you are nothing to me!" he added to Sparkles who started to cry harder than ever. "Thank you for curing me of my ridicules obsession with love . . ."

Shakespeare, too, was choking back tears, but he walked off the stage without another word. Nini watched him leave, half-hoping he'd stop. _No!_ She thought forcefully. _He has to go!_

Harold was talking again. "This sitar player doesn't love you! See he flees the kingdom!" 'Flees' wasn't the word Nini would've used. 'Walks dejectedly from' was more accurate, but there was no time to argue word choice. Sparkles was still sobbing on the floor and she didn't seem to have any intention of getting up soon.

Without thinking, Nini dropped to her knees next to Sparkles. "Stop this, Sparkles!" she hissed. "Your messing it up, like I told you not to!" Sparkles stared at her incredulously.

"So, what, you're going to kill me?" she whispered.

"Not if you get up now! Just finish the play."

"And after the play, Nini? After it?" Sparkles murmured, but she grabbed Nini's hand and allowed herself to be pulled to her feet. She took a deep breath and straightened slowly. Once she seemed steady, Nini let go and stepped back to her place in the dancers. She glanced at the audience in time to see Shakespeare vanish out the front doors. He was, then, finally gone for good. She tried to tell herself she was happy about this.

She directed a glare at the Duke, who looked murderous but seemed to be calming down now that Shakespeare had left. Her hatred for him reached a boiling point.

Nini barely listened as Sparkles shakily but clearly began to exchange wedding vows with Harold. Just before the final 'I do', however, Nini heard a loud gasp from her and suddenly she was paying full attention. Sparkles was holding her chest and trying to breathe in without much success. She managed a few shallow breaths and then she collapsed onto the stage.

For the second time that evening, everyone froze in shock. Sparkles lay motionless on the floor. Nini recovered first and again knelt down next to her, this time joined by Harold. "What do we do?" Nini asked him quietly.

"Improvise." He whispered immediately. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes – she'd been hoping for something more specific. Improvise was his solution for everything.

_Improvise._ Nini bent down and pretended to check if Sparkles was breathing. She was. _Improvise. I can do that._ Nini theatrically clapped her hands to her mouth and let out a fake sob. "She's dead!" she cried loudly.

"Dead?" Harold repeated, horrified. _You told me to improvise._

Nini nodded and stood up, still pretending to cry. "Dead! Sh–She was sick! With consumption!" Nini fabricated wildly.

Harold stood up too and brandished his precious ceremonial sword. "Why wasn't I told of this?" he yelled in his best Maharajah voice. Nini fell to her knees, as she knew good subjects should.

"She was scared, my lord!" she answered quickly. "P-please! All she wanted was to make you happy! Sh-she didn't want –" Unsure what Sparkles wasn't supposed to want, Nini didn't finish, instead breaking into more sobs.

"Happy? All she's done is make me angry!" He threw down the sword to show his great anger. He turned toward the crowd and shook his fist at them. "I will have my revenge! No courtesan in India will survive my wrath! I shall –" What else Harold – or the Maharajah – was going to do, no one ever knew. Nini picked up the sword and shoved it in between his arm and stomach, making it seem like she'd stabbed him. He fell backwards, leaving Nini still holding the sword, visibly bloodless.

Nonetheless, she held it above her head, "The Maharajah is dead!" she shouted triumphantly. "We're free from his tyrannical reign forever!"

Arabia began to cheer. Mome Fromage and China Doll quickly joined her and Nini threw back her head and laughed as the rest of the cast started cheering too. Whoever was in charge of the curtain realized the play was over, and the bright red and gold curtains swept over the stage as the audience burst into applause.

* * *

Harold stood up. "What were you thinking, saying she was dead?"

"You told me to improvise." Nini said accusingly. "I improvised. Hey, they liked it!" she added, gesturing to the curtain, behind which the crowd was still going wild.

Before Harold could say anything, the stage manager came on stage and called, "Stand by for curtain call! Dancers, positions, please!"

"Are you crazy? She's unconscious!" Nini told him, pointing at Sparkles, but at she chose that moment to wake up.

She sat up quickly and said, "Christian!" Harold helped her to her feet. "W-what happened?" she asked.

"The play's over." Harold answered. "It's time for the curtain call."

"Over? But, how –"

"I'll tell you later, get into position!"

Curtain call went as it had been rehearsed until the very end, when Nini decided that, as the true savior of the courtesan's kingdom, she deserved more attention than she had gotten. She stepped into the middle of the stage and bowed all by herself, smiling widely. The curtain closed once more.

She turned toward Sparkles, her grin fading. Sparkles was staring at her. "How did the show end again?" she asked faintly. "Never mind. Christian . . ."

"You are a girl of one idea, aren't you?" Nini grumbled. She had, in the exhilaration of the last few minutes of the play, almost forgotten about Shakespeare and what Sparkles had had to do in order to save him. What she still had to do. "Come on, Sparkles. You have to get ready for the Duke."

"The Duke . . ."

"Yes, the Duke, you're supposed to sleep with him tonight, remember?"

"Oh, but I -!" Sparkles' eyes were filling with tears again. Nini quickly interrupted her.

"You have to, Sparkles! You know you have to!" Sparkles nodded helplessly. "Mome!" Nini called and Mome Fromage appeared next to them. "Help her get ready, hmm? And stall her as long as you can!" She added in a whisper.

Mome looked at Sparkles, who was still fighting tears, and muttered. "_That_ won't be hard. But why?"

"Never mind why, just do it!"

Mome and Sparkles left in the direction of Sparkles' room while Nini headed in the direction of the Duke's, where she was supposed to meet him soon. She walked determinedly toward the door, where Warner was, as usual, standing guard. She had no idea what she was going to do, but something drove her to do something.

"Hey Warner." She said as she approached him.

He looked at her closely. "Is the girl coming?"

"Yes, yes," Nini said impatiently. "She'll be here in a few minutes. But I didn't come to talk about her. I came to talk about – the play. What'd you think of how it ended?"

"Oh no, I didn't watch the play. I had to be on the lookout for that boy." He said gruffly.

Nini gasped, faking indignation. "You didn't get to see Spectacular Spectacular just because the Duke wanted you to make sure Shakesp – Christian didn't come back? That's just wrong!" She took several steps closer.

"Yeah, but try telling the Duke that." He agreed, sounding upset.

"Well, I think," Nini said sympathetically, slowly sliding her hand into his jacket. "That is one of the most _tragic_ things I've ever heard." Her hand closed on his gun.

"What are you -?" Warner began, but Nini pulled back quickly, still holding the gun.

"It's tragic," she hissed. "Because if you'd seen the play, you'd know what I wanted to do to your precious Duke. So perhaps you could get out of the way so I can." Warner, however, was more loyal to the Duke than she'd expected. He refused to move and so she closed her eyes and pulled the trigger.

When she opened her eyes again, Warner was on the floor, a bullet hole through his forehead. She clapped a hand over her mouth, horrified that she'd actually hit her target with her eyes closed. _No time for that now, Nini._ She told herself, and opened the door to the Duke's room.

He'd been alerted by her last gunshot and was staring at the door as it opened, looking scared. Nini closed the door behind her and took several steps toward him, gun at her side.

"So, what did you think of my ending?" she asked coldly.

"I – I thought – did you just kill Warner?" He asked suddenly.

"Maybe." She raised the gun again and began to walk toward him. He backed away, but she followed. "I told Sparkles I was capable of murder – what do you think?" She stopped, the gun about a foot away from his chest. "I killed the Maharajah. Should I kill the Maharajah's counterpart too?" she whispered. "Free the Moulin Rouge from _his_ tyrannical reign?" She closed her eyes once more, and pulled the trigger.

**A/N: I love cliffhangers, but this one is ruined by the fact that the sequel is already written and posted. If you wish to know what happens to Christian, Satine, and Nini after this, I suggest you read (and review) If Only You Knew if you haven't yet.**

**So, I have a prequel plot bunny for this story running around in my head - I don't know about you, but I've noticed Nini randomly mentions her mother a lot. This sparks my curiosity - who was her mother exactly? If you are interested in _another_ prequel to this story, one that details Nini's past, please tell me in a review. I'll write for anyone - if only one person wants to read it, I'll write it. If anyone doesn't want to read it, then they don't have to. Yay? Yay.**

**Ok, now is review time! (It's the last chapter - seriously, if you haven't reviewed any of the others, please review now!)**


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